parthian and sasanian art

8/10/2019 Parthian and Sasanian Art

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Parthian and Sasanian Art

Author(s): M. S. DimandSource: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 4, Part 1 (Apr., 1933), pp. 79-81Published by: The Metropolitan Museum of ArtStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3255021.

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2/4

BULLETIN

OF

THE

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

PARTH IAN AND

SASAN

IAN

ART

Two

important periods

in

the

history

of

Near Eastern art-the Parthian

and

the

Sasanian-connecting

the

Hellenistic

and

Islamic

periods,

have

been

hitherto insuf-

ficiently represented

in

our

Museum.

But

this

gap

has now been

filled

by

an

impor-

tant Parthian

relief

recently

purchased

and

by

the

objects

acquired

through

the

Muse-

um's

participation,

in

the winter of

I93I-

1932,

with the German State

Museums,

in

the

second

expedition

to

Ctesiphon,

in

Mesopotamia.1

The

Parthian relief and the

late Parthian

period

(II-III

century A.D.).2

The

palace

was

an

imposing

structure of

stone,

built

in

strong

Oriental

style,

with

several

large

barrel-vaulted halls and arched

doorways richly

ornamented.

The decoration of the

palace

reveals the

mixture of

Hellenistic and Oriental motives

so characteristic of Parthian art. The

jambs

of the

griffin

doorway,

which connects the

North Hall with Room

io,

are adorned

with acanthus and vine

scrolls enlivened

with

putti

and birds.

The

griffin

relief

upon

the lintel

was still in situ when

Andrae3 visited the

palace;

it

was

later cut

FIG.

I. RELIEF

FROM A DOOR

LINTEL FROM THE PALACE AT

HATRA

PARTHIAN,

II-III

CENTURY A.D.

most

interesting

of

the

Ctesiphon

finds,

shown this month in

the

Room of Recent

Accessions,

form

the

nucleus

of

a

pre-

Islamic

section,

to be

arranged

later

in

one

of

the Near

Eastern

galleries.

The Parthian

relief

(fig.

I)

comes from

the

palace

at

Hatra,

a

fortress

city

situated

in

the

Mesopotamian

desert

between

the

Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, southwest

from Mosul.

Governed

by

Arab

kings

who

were vassals of the

Parthian

empire,

Hatra

was

unsuccessfully

besieged

by

the

Romans,

in

A.D.

117

under

Trajan

and in

A.D.

200

and 201 under

Septimus

Severus.

It

was

finally

destroyed by

the Sasanian

king

Shapur

I

(A.D.

242-272).

The

ruins of Hatra

were

investigated

by

the German

Expedi-

tion to Assur

and

published

by

Walter

Andrae,

who

assigns

most of them to the

J. Upton,

BULLETIN,

vol. XXVII (1932), pp.

188-197.

out and sold to dealers

in

Baghdad

and

finally acquired

in London

by

the Museum.

The

decoration of

this

magnificent

relief

consists of

two

winged

panther-like

animals,

each

resting

one

paw

on the

rim of a

central

vase surmounted

by

a motive

resembling

a

lyre.

Of

great

interest is the

symmetrical

composition,

which

follows

the

heraldic

device of ancient Oriental art. The sym-

metry

is not

absolute, however,

the

artist

having

introduced several

variations.

The

tongue

of

the left

griffin

is

hanging

out,

but

not of the

right.

The

wings

are also treated

differently.

The

wing

feathers

of

the

right

griffin,

carved with more

detail

than those

of

the

left,

end in a

scroll. This decorative

treatment of the

right wing

is a forerunner

of

the Sasanian

wings

used

as

symbols

or

ornament

(cf.

fig.

4).

The

vigorous modeling

2

Hatra, vols. I, II. Leipzig,

I912.

3

Op.

cit.,

vol.

II,

pl.

XII.

79

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3/4

BULLETIN OF THE

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM

OF ART

and the

graceful

curves of the

necks and the

bodies of

the

griffins

also

remind one of the

style

of the Sasanian

period,

which

began

with Ardashir

I,

who

conquered

all

Persia

and

Mesopotamia,

proclaiming

himself the

king

of

kings

of

the

Iranians in

A.D. 226.

The

Sasanian

dynasty

(A.D.

226-637)

in-

augurated

one

of the

most brilliant

periods

in the

history

of Persian

art,

not

only

in

painting

and

sculpture

but also in minor

arts.4

The

excavations at

Ctesiphon,

one

of

FIG.

2.

STUCCO

TILI

SASANIAN,

VI

(

the

capitals

of the Sasanian

empire,

revealed

some of the

splendor

of the

famous

palace,

Tak-i-Kisra,

and the rich

stucco

decoration

of

several

private

residences. Half of

the

Ctesiphon

finds remained

in

the

Baghdad

Museum,

the other half

was

divided

be-

tween the

Metropolitan

Museum

and the

Islamic collection in Berlin.

Our

share con-

sists of numerous stucco panels and ceram-

ics which

were assembled

and restored in

Berlin

under the skillful

guidance

of

Profes-

sor

Ernst

Kuhnel,

the

field

director

of the

expedition.

Besides these

finds the Museum

received

a

number of

interesting

stucco or-

naments and

pottery

from the

first

expedi-

tion,

conducted

in

the winter

of

I928-I929.5

4

F.

Sarre,

Die

Kunst des alten

Persien;

E.

Herzfeld,

Am

Tor von

Asien.

5

A.

Reuther,

Die

Ausgrabungen

der

deutschen

Ktesiphon-Expedition;dem,Antiquity,vol. III

(1929),

pp.

434

ff.

The

stucco reliefs

from

Ctesiphon

are

decorated

with a

great

variety

of motives.

A

number of

panels

from the

mound el-

Ma'aridh

show

dancers and musicians

which

are

probably

parts

of

larger

compo-

sitions. In a house

excavated

on the

mound

Umm

ez-Za'tir,

the

expedition

found

panels

decorated

with various

animals,

gazelles,

bears,

and

wild boars

(cf.

fig.

2),

in

flight.

The boars

especially

recall the

famous rock

sculptures

at

Tak-i-Bustan,

near

Kirman-

r,,-x-.

I

E FROM CTESIPHON

:ENTURY A.D.

shah,

where the

left wall of

the

main

grotto

represents

King

Khusrau II

(A.D.

590-629)

hunting

wild

boars. The

drawing

of the

boars both in

our

stucco

and in

the

rock

sculptures

reveals the

close

observation of

nature

often evident in

Sasanian

art.

Many

ornamental

devices

created bv

artists of the

Sasanian

period

continued

in

Persian art for centuries. The favorite mo-

tive was the

palmette,

a

stylized

form

re-

sembling

a leaf or a

flower.

Some of

the

Sasanian

palmettes

are

derived from

vine

leaves

and are

used

in

various

combinations.

A

simple

pattern

is

formed

by

a

row of

pal-

mettes

joined by

arcs,

as seen

on an

archi-

volt

and on a

large

rosette in

openwork,

found

in

one of the

houses

in

el-Ma'aridh

and

probably

used as

a

window.

These

pal-

mettes have

seven

deeply

incised

lobes

which produce a striking effect of light and

dark. A

very

large

stucco

rosette

(3/2

ft.

in

80



4/4

BULLETIN

OF THE

METROPOLITAN

MUSEUM OF ART

diam.)6

found near the

palace

during

the

first

campaign

at

Ctesiphon

is

similarly

dec-

orated. Half

palmettes

and

trefoil and flower

palmettes

also occur

in

Sasanian art. The

outer

part

of a

splendid

archivolt of

a

niche

found

in

one of the

houses at el-Ma'aridh

has a

design

of

trefoils

and

rosettes;

the

inner

part

consists

of a

round

molding

carved

as

a trunk of a

tree.

Such

moldings,

varying

in size

and

stylization,

are a

char-

acteristic feature

of the

Ctesiphon

arches.

A fine

example

of

the

palmette

tree,

often

FIGS.

3, 4.

STUCCO TILES FROM

found

in

Sasanian

art,

appears

on a

stucco

tile from

el-Ma'aridh.

The

tree

bears

pal-

mettes, rosettes,

and

pomegranates,

and

symmetrically placed

in

the

branches

are

four birds.

The

comparison

of the

Ctesiphon

stucco

patterns

with the

decoration

of

other

Sasa-

nian

monuments

indicates

that

the

former

are not earlier than

the

sixth

century.

A

number

of

stucco

tiles

(cf. fig. 3)

found

dur-

ing

the first

campaign

at

el-Ma'aridh7

form

6

Upton,

ibid.,

p.

193.

fig.

10.

7

Reuther,

op.

cit.,

fig.

I8.

an

interesting

link

between the late

Sasa-

nian

and

the

early

Islamic

style

of the

Omayyad period

(VIII

century

A.D.),

as

shown in

the

carvings

of the

prayer

pulpit

in

the

mosque

Sidi

Okba at

Kairwan

in North

Africa and

the

wooden

panel

from Takrit

on

exhibition

in

Gallery

E

I4

A. Another

Sasa-

nian

motive which

often

occurs in Islamic

ornament

of the

eighth

century

is

the

pair

of

wings

originally

symbolizing

the

divine

power

of

Sasanian

kings.

A stucco

tile

from

Umm

ez-Za'tir

(fig. 4)

is decorated

with

CTESIPHON,

VI CENTURY A.D.

wings

supporting

a

monogram

in

Pahlavi

writing.

Other

Sasanian

and

early

Islamic

objects

acquired

by

the

Museum

through

the

Ctesi-

phon

expedition

are a

unique

alabaster relief

representing

a

wild

dog

attacking

a

gazelle,

glazed

and

unglazed

ceramics,

glass,

and

ivories.

Worthy

of

special

mention are a

graceful

vase8

with

a

blue

glaze

and a

dish

with a

blue-greenglaze,

the

shape

and

deco-

ration of

which

imitate a

bronze vessel.

M.

S.

DIMAND.

8

Ibid.,

fig.

II.

8I


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